The Family Menagerie
by ProfessionallyCrazedNarutoFan
Summary: Short three-part series in which Sarada meets her parents' summons.
1. Sarada Meets Aoda

**title: **friends in high places  
><strong>prompt:<strong> sarada meets aoda  
><strong>disclaimer: <strong>naruto, not mine since 1999.  
><strong>note: <strong>I started writing this as something else, and then my brain went different places with it. Enjoy.

This is part of a three part series in which Sarada meets her parents' summons.

* * *

><p>"Papa, I'm tired."<p>

Sasuke pauses and looks down at Sarada, who has been holding his hand as she walks beside him. In a lot of ways, his daugher is a lot like him, even at five years old. She doesn't like to admit when she's tired or needs help, so when she tells this to him, he knows she's reached her limit.

They are walking back from Suna after visiting Sakura, who is staying there on an extended medical-based mission for several weeks. A one-way trip from Konoha to Suna is four days of solid, fast-paced travel for the average shinobi.

But walking with a small child increases the travel time significantly, and even though Sasuke could easily carry Sarada on his back, he doesn't. He enjoys this time with his daughter and is in no rush to make it back to the hustle and bustle of Konoha.

They're two days out of Suna, and most likely Sarada is drained and slightly dehydrated from heat that she's not used to. His lips press together in a thin line of consternation, and he is irritated with himself for not keeping a better eye on her condition.

He picks her up and seats her on a fallen log, opening his water canteen and handing it to her. As she drinks, he has a thought.

"Sarada, when you're finished I have someone I want you to meet."

She looks at him quizzically over the canteen, but doesn't object. She looks on curiously as he bites his thumb, drawing blood, and places it on the ground.

As a seal appears on the ground, he tells her, "Don't be afraid. No harm will come to you." She is naturally apprehensive at these words, and he adds, "I promise."

Sarada stands, and Sasuke pulls her against him as a large white puff of smoke materializes.

* * *

><p>"Woah!"<p>

Sarada laughs in pure joy as their bodies cut through the clouds, and she tries to grasp them as they pass by. She's sitting firmly on top of her papa's shoulders, and Sasuke smirks to himself at the sound of her shrieks of glee.

As expected, Sarada took to Aoda immediately. It took her a moment to get over the shock of seeing a giant snake appear from nowhere, but once she did she was fascinated.

Aoda, for his part, insantly loved the girl, and Sasuke can feel the protective aura radiating off the large reptile. He will protect and serve her with the same level of devotion that he gives his master.

They will reach Konoha quicker traveling on the snake than they otherwise would, but seeing his daughter enjoying herself so immensely leaves him with no regrets.

"Papa, can Mama summon Aoda too?" Sarada leans down so that her face is hanging upside down in front of his.

Sasuke smirks. "Aa. No, she can't."

Sarada pouts and puffs out her cheeks. The older Uchiha chuckles.

"Mama can summon slugs. Particularly a large one named Katsuyu, who is the same size as Aoda."

Sarada scrunches her nose in disgust. "Ewww, slugs are gross." A brief flash of panic crosses her face. "But don't tell Mama I said that! Promise you won't say anything, Papa, please!"

Sasuke's laugh rumbles deep in his chest. "I won't. So snakes are cooler than slugs?"

Sarada flashes her miniature version of Sakura's grin at him. "Totally. One day I'm gonna be as strong as Mama and summon snakes like you, Papa. I'll be the strongest kunoichi ever!"

As Aoda continues onward toward home, Sasuke thinks that her prediction will be more true than she could possibly know.


	2. Sarada Meets Katsuyu

**title:** breaking it down  
><strong>prompt:<strong> sarada meets katsuyu  
><strong>disclaimer:<strong> naruto, not mine since 1999.

This was totally written at my company christmas party because I am that loser that sits in the corner writing fanfiction on her phone while everyone else drinks.

* * *

><p>"Mama, Papa says you can summon slugs."<p>

Sakura looks up from the chart she's working on, eyebrow raised. They're in her office at the hospital, Sarada doing homework and Sakura finishing up her paperwork.

"I can. How did that come up?"

Sarada shrugs, penciling in an answer on her homework. "We were riding Aoda on the way home from Suna and I asked him if you could summon snakes too. He said no, but that you had a slug."

Sakura's face goes a peculiar shade of red, and she growls her husband's name under her breath. "He took you…riding…on the snake…"

Sarada beams. "It was _so cool_, Mama! We were way up high, and I got to touch the clouds! And-"

She is so wrapped up in her exuberance that she doesn't notice the angry twitching of Sakura's eye.

"-ma?"

"Huh?" Sakura is startled out of her internal tirade that she's practicing for later.

"I said, how come you're stuck with a slug?" Sarada frowns, as though Sakura's animal summon is a disappointment to her.

Sakura sighs and steps away from her desk, coming over to sit on the small loveseat beside her daughter. She puts an arm around Sarada, pulling her in close and twirling the ends of her dark hair around her fingers.

"I'm not stuck with anything, sweetheart, except maybe this paperwork." She gently brushes aside Sarada's bangs and kisses her forehead. "Katsuyu-sama and I have a contract, just like she had a contract with my shishou before me."

Sarada makes a face. "But she's still a _slug_."

Sakura taps her on the forehead. "She's a_ very powerful slug_, and no less _cool_ than Aoda, no matter what your papa says."

The youngest Uchiha mulls this over for a moment. "But what does she _do_?"

The tired head medic reclines back against the cushions. "Katsuyu-sama helped me save a lot of lives during the war by splitting up her body so I could heal people through her. And she can spit acid." She can't help the smug smirk that creeps up on her face.

Sarada finally looks impressed. "Can I meet her?"

Sakura purses her lips. On the one hand, it's irresponsible to summon Katsuyu for anything less than dire need. On the other hand, Sasuke would have a one-up on her..

"Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Woooow."<p>

Sarada stares up at the giant slug in astonishment. It's less gross than she thought it would be, and is instead just…huge.

Katsuyu-sama is as big as, if not bigger than Aoda. At five years old, Sarada is barely a speck compared to the giant beast. Beside her, Sakura smirks at her daughter's awed reaction.

"Would you like to see what Katsuyu-sama can do?"

Suddenly shy in the slug's presence, Sarada nods.

Sakura grins to herself. "Katsuyu-sama, please divide yourself."

Sarada lets out a loud yelp as Katsuyu suddenly explodes into a shower of raining slugs, and she covers her head as she's pelted with a shower of small slimy creatures. She glares at Sakura, who is laughing beside her.

She kneels down and points at a recent cut on Sarada's leg. "Watch this."

Sarada stays very still as one of the tiny slugs crawls up her leg to sit on her cut. She watches apprehensively as her mother forms a few hand seals, and the slug begins to glow with her green healing chakra. Apprehension turns to surprise and then wonder.

"So this is how you healed people during the war?"

"Mhm." Sakura nods. "All of the smaller slugs attached to people fighting for our side, and thanks to Katsuyu-sama I was able to keep them all healed."

Sarada's eyes sparkle with delight. "I bet Aoda can't do that, can he?"

Sakura grins wickedly. "No. No he can't."

As the cut fades away, Sarada inspects the newly healed pink skin. "You and Papa should fight! See whose summon is stronger!"

"Eh heh heh. I don't think that would be very fair to your father."

Sarada glances at her mama curiously. "But Papa's really strong."

Mama looks back at her with some amusement. "That's true. But a woman's got to be strong to survive in this world, you know. And I can take him."

The young kunoichi smiles, dimples showing. She wants to be just like her mama some day.


	3. Sarada Meets Garuda

**title:** avians in the after-dark  
><strong>prompt:<strong> sarada meets garuda.  
><strong>disclaimer:<strong> naruto, not mine since 1999.

* * *

><p>Sarada takes care to remain absolutely silent as she slips out of her bedroom window and down to the ground. Any slight sound will alert her father, who is a very light sleeper, so she tip-toes as quietly as possible through the garden and beyond the fence.<p>

Only when she is a few streets over does she finally start to breathe easier.

This is her first venture in sneaking out of the house after dark without her parents' knowledge, and Sarada is both thrilled and terrified. If she is caught, she dreads the disappointment in her papa's eyes more than any punishment.

Swallowing her anxiety, she continues down the street. Boruto has promised to show her something amazing and forbidden that he found in his dad's office, but he'd warned that he could only show her in secret.

So here she is wandering the streets of Konoha in the middle of the night, looking for some jerk who's probably playing a prank on her and won't even show. Sarada grits her teeth. If Boruto doesn't show, he is _dead meat_.

* * *

><p>After an hour of circling the village, Sarada finally finds the Uzumaki heir crouched behind the ramen stand. <em>Typical<em>, she thinks. She approaches him silently from behind, tapping him on the shoulder. He jumps a foot in the air and clamps a hand over his mouth to keep from screaming.

Sarada rolls her eyes. "Are you gonna show me this thing or not?" Her whisper seems to carry in the dark, and she looks around anxiously, as though her father is right behind the next corner.

"Keep your hair on, prissy-pants," he scoffs, regaining his composure. "I have to get it out of the secret hiding place."

She watches impatiently as he digs through the dumpster beside Ichiraku. "Really? You put it in _there_? You don't think your dad's going to notice the smell when you put it back? Idiot."

Boruto turns back to face her to retort, but instead of speaking, his jaw goes slack and his face drains of all color. Sarada pokes him. "If you dragged me out here for nothing, I swear I'm going to-"

"Look!" he chokes out hoarsely, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around. Sarada freezes in frightened shock.

Perched on a short fence across the street, a large hawk stares directly at them, it's beady eyes focused intensely. It jerks its head sideways and emits a loud shriek.

Terrified, Boruto takes off running down the street. Sarada runs after him, berating him for leaving her behind. "You idiot, you were gonna let it eat me!"

"Better you than me!" he hollers back over his shoulder.

Sarada's next words are swallowed by her scream as the hawk takes flight, easily catching up to her and latching onto her shoulders with its talons. Boruto stands dumbfounded as she is lifted into the air and carried off.

* * *

><p>Sarada has never been so terrified in her life as the giant hawk lifts her into the night sky, as if she were a weightless rag doll. The view of the moon and stars is beautiful up here, but she can't think through her mind-blanking fear as she dangles hundreds of feet above the ground.<p>

They circle a few times over the dormant village, the hawk occasionally letting out a raucous cry, as if it were a signal. Finally, they start to descend. As they grow closer and closer to the ground, Sarada realizes where the bird is taking her, and the bottom drops out of her stomach.

Rather than landing, the bird hovers over the front yard of the Uchiha home, the flapping of his large wings shaking the trees.

Standing on the front porch is Sasuke, his expression unreadable.

"Garuda, down."

His voice is short and terse, and Sarada isn't sure that she'd rather be on the ground right now. But the hawk obeys its master, gently setting Sarada into the soft grass. She tries very hard to keep upright, but the adrenaline and terror rushing through her veins sends her crashing to her knees.

She hears papa's footsteps approaching, and he kneels down in front o her. She can't help the tears that spring to her eyes. "I'm sorry, Papa, I'm so sorry. It was stupid and I'll never do it again-"

Her apology is cut short by his tight embrace. "You could have gotten hurt. You could have been kidnapped. Don't ever scare me like that again."

Sarada nods, burying her face in his shirt. "I promise, Papa."


End file.
